Cultural Relativism

an idea in anthropological research where norms and cultures of different peoples must not be
understood or evaluated based on the norms and standards of another people. This is where we believe
that the study of a particular culture must be relative to that culture’s standards. Thus, in this, we
believe that cultures have different perspectives, standards, norms, aesthetics, etc. that these must be
taken into consideration when we study them.

Cultures must be analyzed objectively and with little or no judgement from our own standards because
our goal is to analyze and understand them according to their perspective, not pass judgment or
morality on them according to our perspective.

Xenocentrism – perception that other culture’s standards are more superior; analyzing cultures based
on other culture’s standards.

e.g. There is discussion on anime as to why the characters then to have big eyes and blonde hair, like
Caucasians. Some say it is intended to better express emotions, but others say it is because the Japanese
tend to see American standards of beauty as superior.

Ethnocentrism – perception that own culture’s standards are more superior; analyzing cultures based
on own culture’s standards.

e.g. Americans tend to say that people from England drive on the “wrong” side of the road, rather than
on the “other” side (Lumen Learning).

Federalism

- A system of government where a territory is managed by two governments, a federal

government that encompasses the whole country, and state governments, where they manage
a particular region, state, or subdivision of a country.
- These two governments share power and is decentralized, unlike in a unitary state like the
Philippines, power is centralized in the national government in Manila. In a federal system, state
governments are given more power to manage their own affairs the way they see fit. They also
get a bigger share of the revenue that they generate that they can use to develop their state.
- In the proposed federal government drafted in 2018, the Philippines will be divided into
federated regions, with their own
- state or regional constitutions,
- regional governor,
- a regional assembly
- regional supreme court
Parliamentary Democracy

DISCLAIMER – How parliamentary systems work may differ from one country to another. In this subject,
what will be discussed is the Westminster or British parliamentary system.

This form of government is where the head of state (either a president or a monarch) has only
ceremonial powers and the head of government (prime minister) is the one who holds the power in
government.

The country is divided into what we call constituencies, and each constituency is represented by a
member of parliament or MP. An MP is always (may also be independent) a member of a political
party.

The prime minister is elected if the political party he/she leads got the absolute majority of seats in
Parliament, the legislative body where the people seating there called MPs (members of parliament)
debate, pass laws, and question the government on its policies.

For example, in the United Kingdom’s House of Commons (lower house of the British Parliament), a
political party must have 326 of its party members as members of parliament (There are 650 seats all in
all in Parliament) in order to form the government.

The Prime Minister will appoint some of his/her fellow MPs from his/her party as cabinet ministers. The
government is accountable to Parliament – their actions and policies will always be questioned by the
opposition and other members of parliament.

The political party with the second most number of seats won will form the opposition. The leader of
that party will be the leader of the opposition, and will question the Prime Minister on their policies, as
well as provide alternative policies and plan to what the government is doing.

The cabinet ministers will also be questioned by MPs appointed by the leader of the opposition called
shadow ministers. They provide alternative policies from the ones made by their counterparts. For
example, the Shadow Minister for Agriculture will question and criticize the Minister for Agriculture.

The government can only survive with the support of Parliament, as long as it has the absolute majority
of its party members as MPs, they can stay in power. But if they do not have enough seats, or the party
has turned against the government, the Prime Minister and the other ministers could be out of office
through a vote of no confidence, and there will be a new general election.

1. What if the party fails to secure enough seats to form an absolute majority?
In this situation that is called a hung parliament, the ruling party will become a minority
government, which are considered weak and unstable as it would harder for them to pass laws,
and are more likely to be out of office by a vote of no confidence, because there are not enough
MPs that can support the government. What the ruling party can do is that it must negotiate a
coalition government (one or two parties cooperating) with the other minor parties in order to
secure more seats, but it most give government posts to the other parties involved in the
coalition.
 2. Can political party turn against their Prime Minister (party leader)
Yes, if they think it is in the best interest of the party for a new leader, or to secure the party in
the next election. This is the case with Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s
first female Prime Minister. She stepped down in 1990 after realizing that most Conservative
MPs withdraw their support for her in the party leadership election.

3. Does having a Prime Minister automatically mean that the government is parliamentary?
No, it still lies on how the executive branch is formed. In a parliamentary system, the executive
branch (prime minister and ministers) came from the legislative branch (parliament as MPs).
Unlike in a presidential system, where the President and the cabinet are not from Congress and
are elected by popular vote or appointed by the President.
There are governments with prime ministers in a presidential system, like in South Korea, where
power still lies with the President (daetongnyeong), and the Prime Minister (gongmuchongni) is
appointed to assist the President in managing the executive branch of government.

Cultural Symbols and Practices

As students and future professionals, we most of the time tend to think logically. Young people
tend to repudiate all things are not a result of rational thinking. But we must always consider that there
always things in society that have been deeply embedded for centuries, and in whatever act that we
do, business that we transact or market, patients to heal, buildings we construct, children and patients
we listen to, we always take these things in society into consideration. This is to understand we people
behave that way and believe in such a manner.

Symbols – something that meaningfully represents a particular culture, may be tangible or not.

e.g. A flag can represent a culture of a certain country.

According to Noam Chomsky, language is a best form of symbols. Because in a language, the words and
the grammar systems can represent the culture’s feelings, sentiments, environment, history, etc.

Values – abstract ideas that tells a society what is right and wrong. These ideas shape and define our
society. We cannot make business deals or political decisions without considering these values.

e.g. family-orientedness, religiosity, resiliency, bravery, etc.

Norms – these are the behaviors society expects us to do in certain situations. They can either be
something we must do (prescriptive) or something we must not do (proscriptive).
Kinds of Norms

Folkways – norms that are not that strict to follow; they are not considered to be so offensive or
outrageous enough when violated.

e.g. pagmamano, inviting someone to eat, saying po and opo

Mores (pronounced mo-res) – Latin word meaning manner or habit, where the English word moral
came from – these are norms that have considerable sanctions (punishment) when violated. You may be
considered as a person of bad taste or reputation, but may or may not be considered as a crime.

e.g. gossiping, bullying, not respecting ancestral domains are breaking the mores

Taboos – norms that you must not violate under any circumstances; considered to be very scandalous or
outrageous.

e.g. incest, patricide

Sanctions – these are the consequences in either following or violate the norm. It could either be a
reward or a punishment.

Beliefs – these are what people hold to be true in life; it is not always necessary to be scientifically
factual.

e.g. superstitions, religion, supernatural beings, usog, pasma

Socialization and Personality Theories

Looking Glass Self Theory – it is the process wherein individuals base their sense of self on how they
believe others view them, it implies that our concept of ourselves is a product of our interaction with
other people; it basically means that we think of who we are because of what other people think of us.

Nature VS Nurture Debate Theory – debate on whether our personality is a product from birth,
heredity, and genetic makeup (nature), or is it something acquired from the environment where we live
in (nurture)

Styles of Parenting

(DISCLAIMER) The effects of children on these parenting styles are not always 100% accurate. There will
be always other factors in the environment (nurture) and in birth (nature) that can influence an
individual’s personality.

1. Authoritarian/Disciplinarian Parenting – the parent/s exert/s too much authority and discipline
on the child.
- Parents have very high expectations on their children, but with very little love or care in
return. Mistakes are harshly punished.
 - Children tend to follow based on fear of their parents, rather that thinking that it is the right
thing. It may cause resentment and they may become rebellious in the future. But there are
also those who tend to perform better in academics and in the professional field as they
were drilled to pursue perfection since childhood.
2. Permissive Parenting – the parent/s give emphasizes the children being free to be able to do
what they want to do; discipline is always inconsistent.
- Parents expect little of their children, and they give so much love or care in their children.
- Children tend to have high self-esteem, but they can also grow up spoiled and manipulative.
3. Uninvolved (also called negligent or neglectful) Parenting – the parent/s show little or no
responsiveness or care to the children’s needs. They can either “indifferent, dismissive,
sometimes even neglectful.”
- Children tend to have low self-esteem. They can grow up to be responsible and self-reliant
but deep in their hearts, they feel something is missing in them.
4. Authoritative Parenting – this is considered to be the best parenting style.
- Combination of high responsiveness and care with high expectations on the children.
- “You must learn how to do this. But do not worry, I will help you.”
- Children tend to grow up to be independent, responsible, and with high academic
performance.